Stomach pump apparatus



July 28, 1964 w. L. KOSKI' ETAL STOMACH PUMP APPARATUS Filed Jan. 29, 1962 5ml. SSWE/VsoN United States Patent 3,142,298 STQMACH PUMP APPARATUS William L. Koslti, 3995 Halifax Ave. N., Minneapolis, Minn, and Email S. Swanson, 247 106th Ave. NW., Coon Rapids, Minn.

Filed Jan. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 169,435 1 Claim. ((31. 128-476) This invention relates to treatment apparatus for use in evacuating liquid from and supplying liquid into the stomach of a patient automatically and continuously in alternating cycles of operation.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel treatment apparatus, of simple and inexpensive construction and operation, for use in the evacuation of liquid from and the injection of liquid into the stomach of a patient automatically and continuously in alternating cycles of operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved treatment apparatus for use in evacuating liquid from and injection of liquid into the stomach of a patient automatically and continuously in alternating cycles of operation and including adjustable time control means which is selectively adjustable to permit the duration of the evacuation and ejection cycles to be selectively and independently preset thereby oviating the necessity of the presence of an attendant.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved fully automatic treatment apparatus of the class described including mechanism for evacuating liquid from the stomach of a patient and mechanism for injecting liquid into the stomach of a patient in alternating cycles of operation, and also including adjustable time control means for automatically and continuously operating each of said mechanisms in alternating cycles of operation a predetermined duration wherein one of said mechanisms is operated a predetermined length while the other of said mechanisms remains inoperative.

These and other objects and advantages of our invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein like character references refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of our invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram thereof; and

FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic diagram of the circuitry involved in our invention.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, it will be seen that one embodiment of our novel stomach pump apparatus is thereshown. It is pointed out that our novel stomach pump apparatus, designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 10, is of the type utilized to evacuate the contents from the stomach of a patient. In therapeutic equipment of this type, the evacuation conduit sometimes becomes clogged and it is therefore necessary to open the evacuation conduit by means of water pressure forced through the evacuation conduit. It is also desirable in some instances to irrigate the stomach of the patient in alternating cycles with respect to the evacuation operation. Our novel stomach pump apparatus is therefore used to evacuate the contents from the stomach of a patient and also to inject liquid into or irrigate the stomach of a patient in alternating cycles of operation.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that our novel stomach pump apparatus includes a housing 11 wherein most of the components of the present invention are incorporated. It will be noted that the housing 11 includes a substantially front wall 12 defining a face which is suitably apertured to accommodate a plurality of dials and control elements to be described hereinbelow. It

will also be noted that housing 11 which may be constructed of suitable rigid material also includes a flat top 13 having a handle 14 secured thereto to facilitate carrying of our treatment apparatus.

The means used to evacuate fluid from the stomach of a patient comprises a suction line. Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that this suction line employed in our apparatus to effect removal of the contents from the stomach of a patient includes an elongate suction conduit 15 which is connected in fluid communication with a source of negative pressure. In the embodiments shown, the source of negative pressure comprises a conventional evacuation or suction pump mechanism 16 which includes a motor or power means. The conduit 15 is preferably constructed of a suitable flexible plastic material. The conduit 15 is connected in communicating relation to a collection receptacle 17, the latter being used to receive therein the contents evacuated from the stomach of a patient. This receptacle 17 is in the form of a large bottle and is provided with a closure or rubber stopper 18 having a pair of apertures 19 therein. Actually, one section of the conduit 15 extends through one of the conduits 19 to project into the interior of the receptacle 17 and another section of conduit 15 has one of its ends extending through one of the apertures 19 and the closure 18 to be in communicating relation with the interior of the receptacle 17. A spring loaded solenoid valve unit 20 is disposed in flow controlling relation with respect to the conduit 15 and this solenoid valve mechanism is of conventional construction and includes a valve element which is disposed in a normally conduit closed position but is movable to a conduit open position when the solenoid valve unit 20 is energized. Also it is pointed out that the evacuator pump mechanism is energized simultaneously when the solenoid valve unit 20 is energized. Thus when the evacuation pump is deenergized, the solenoid valve will also be deenergized.

Thus, it will be seen that the suction line is provided with a solenoid valve unit for normally closing the line, a collection receptacle for receiving the contents evacuated from the stomach of a patient and a source of negative pressure in the form of a vacuum pump mechanism.

This means utilized to inject liquid into the stomach of a patient includes an injection line which is comprised of an elongate injection conduit 21 also preferably formed of a suitable plastic material. One end of the elongate injection conduit 21 is inserted into the interior of the water reservoir structure 22 the latter being in the form of a bottle type receptacle identical to that of the receptacle 17. The bottle 22 is also provided with a suitable closure element or rubber stopper 23 which is identical to the slightly compressible rubber stopper 18. This stopper 23 is provided with a pair of apertures 24.

Injection conduit 21 extends through one of the apertures 24 and the lower end thereof terminates closely adjacent the bottom of the receptacle. The other aperture 24 accommodates a vent tube 25 which is in communicating relation with the exterior.

- The injection conduit 21 is connected in fluid communication with a water injection pump mechanism 26 which is of conventional construction and is provided with power means in the form of an electric motor. Thus, when the water injection pump mechanism 26 is energized, Water will be pumped from the source of water into the receptacle 22 and will be forced through the conduit 21 to be injected into the stomach of the patient. Interposed in flow controlling relation with repect to conduit 21 is a solenoid valve unit 27, the valve element being movable between normally conduit-closing position and conduitopen position. Solenoid valve unit 27 is also of conventional construction and is similar to solenoid valve unit 20. When energized, the solenoid valve unit 27 will have its valve element moved to the conduit-open position and this energization of the solenoid, takes place simultaneously with the energization of the water injection pump mechanism 26. Similarly, the water injection pump mechanism 26, when deenergized, causes the solenoid valve unit 27 to also be deenergized.

Means are provided for automatically and continuously operating each of said pump mechanisms in alternating cycles of operation of predetermined duration so that when the suction line is in operation, the injection line wilbe inoperative and when the injection line is operative the suction or evacuation line will be inoperative. This means for automatically and continuously operating each of the respective suction and injection lines comprises an adjustable time control mechanism. This time control mechanism is a model manufactured either by Automatic Timing Control, Inc., or the Industrial Co., and known generally to the trade as a Duo-timer. This adjustable timer control mechanism is comprised of a clock dial indicator having a substantially circular dial 29 with indicia arranged circumferentially thereon. It will be noted that the indicia are graduated in units or increments of one minute and this indicia extends both clockwise and counter clockwise from a reference zero setting. This clock dial indicator also includes a timer needle 31 which is mounted for swinging movement in both clockwise and counter clockwise directions relative to the dial face 29.

The means for moving the timer needle 31 comprises a pair of synchronous clock motors 32 and 33, respectively, each of which has driving connection with the timer needle. In the particular timer control mechanism illustrated herein, the motor 32 is actually disposed forwardly of the motor 33 and will hereinafter be referred to as the front timer motor while the timer motor 33 will be referred to as the rear timer motor. It is pointed out that the front timer motor is included within an electrical circuit which also includes the evacuation pump mechanism 16 and the solenoid valve unit so that the front timer motor 32 also serves to energize the evacuation pump mechanism 16 and the solenoid valve unit 20. Similarly, the rear timer motor 33 also comprises a component of a circuit which also includes an injection pump mechanism 26 and the solenoid valve unit 27 and serves to energize the injection pump mechanism and the solenoid valve unit.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the particular circuitry which is advantageously employed in my novel stomach pump apparatus is thereshown and includes a main power or lead line 34 and a main ground line 35 which are connected to a suitable source of electrical current. The power line 34 has interposed therein a master switch 36 which is movable between open and closed positions. The power line 34 is connected to a suit-able terminal block 37 and a line 38 is also connected to the main power line 34. The lead line 38 is connected to a double throw switch 39, this switch being actuated by the timer needle 31. One terminal of switch 38 is connected to a lead line 40 which serves to supply current to the front timer motor 32 and timer motor 32 is also connected by a ground line 41 to the main ground line 35. The other terminal of switch 39 is connected to a lead line 42 which supplies current to the rear timer motor 33 and this rear timer motor is connected to the main ground line 35 by a ground line 43. It will be seen that switch 39 always will be closed to either the front timer motor 32 of the rear timer motor 33.

It will be appreciated that the circuitry also includes two circuits connected to the terminal block 37 and one circuit includes power lines 44, 45 and 46 connected to the evacuation pump 16, the panel indicator light 47, and the solenoid valve unit 20, respectively. The ground lines for each of these components are connected to a common ground line 48 which in turn is connected to one terminal of a delayed action micro switch 49. It will be noted that the evacuation pump 16, the panel indicator h light 47 and the solenoid valve unit 20 are connected in parallel and will be energized when the switch 49 is closed. Actually, the switch 49 is a part of a delayed action circuit, this delayed action circuit being energized after a predetermined period of operation of the front timer motor 32. This delayed action circuit includes a lead line 56 interconnecting the switch 49 at the front timer motor 32 and includes a ground line 51 which is interconnected to the main ground line 35. It will therefore be seen that when the delayed action circuit is energized, the switch 49 will be closed, thereby energizing the evacuation pump 16, panel indicator light 47 and the solenoid valve unit 20.

A second circuit is also connected to the terminal 37 and includes power lines 52, 53 and 54 connected respectively to the injection pump mechanism 26, the panel indicator light 55 and the solenoid valve unit 27. These components are also connected in parallel and their respective ground lines are joined to a common ground lead 56, the latter being connected to the hot or live terminal of a delayed action micro switch 57. This switch 57 is also a delayed action circuit including a power line 58 interconnecting the switch 57 to the rear timer motor 33 and includes a ground lead 59 connected to the ground lead 35. Energization of this circuit 58, 59 occurs after a predetermined period of operation of the rear timer iotor 33 and when micro switch 57 is closed, the injection pump 25, solenoid valve unit 27, and the panel indicator light 55 will be energized. It is also pointed out that the other circuit including the evacuation pump 16, solenoid valve unit 20 and panel indicator light 47 will be deenergized during this operation.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the suction line may be provided with a vacuum control device 60 which is adjustable to vary the negative pressureor the vacuum produced by the vacuum pump 16. This vacuum control is of conventional structure and a detailed description is felt unnecessary for the instant application. This vacuum control device 60 is actuated by a vacuum control knob 61 which projects through the panel or front wall 12. It will be noted that by rotating the knob 61 in a clockwise direction serves to increase the negative pressure or suction produced by the vacuum pump mechanism 16. Cooperating with the vacuum control 6t) device is a dial type indicator gauge 62 which is also interposed in the suction line and which serves to indicate the vacuum or negative pressure being produced by the vacuum pump 16. This indicator gauge is of conventional construction and is provided with a dial face suitably calibrated and an indicator needle. Thus, the vacuum produced by the vacuum pump may be readily varied so that the desired pressure required by the particular situation may be obtained.

It will be noted that the switch 39 which is actuated by the timer needle 31 is always closed with respect to the circuits to either the front timer motor or the rear timer motor and the micro switch is actuated in response to the lapse of a predetermined period of time. Thus it will be seen that means are provided for varying the length of time of the evacuation cycle and the injection cycle independently of each other. This means includes a pair of adjustable cycle indexing members 39a and 391) which are mounted for swinging movement relative to the face of the dial 29. It will be noted that the indexing members 39a and 391) are in the form of pointers and each carries a depending post (not shown) which lies within the path of movement of the timer needle 31. Each of the indexing members 39a and 39b is independently adjustable of the other member and it is pointed out that the indexing member or pointer 39a cooperates with the timer needle 31 to preset the duration of the suction cycle while the indexing member or pointer 39b cooperates with the timer needle to predetermine the length of the injection cycle. For example, the indexing member 39a may be set on the reference numeral 10 located on the right hand side of the dial 29 while the indexing members 39b may be set on the reference numeral on the left hand side of the dial 29. The timer needle 31 will move towards the right or in a counter clockwise direction during the suction cycle and the timer needle will be driven by the front panel motor 32 until the needle strikes the post carried by the indexing members 39a. The timer needle 31 will actuate the switch 39 thereby deenergizing the front timer motor 32 and simultaneously energizing the rear timer motor 33 so that the timer needle will then be driven by the rear timer motor in a clockwise direction until the timer needle strikes the post carried by the indexing member 3912 and the cycle will then be complete.

It is also noted that the suction line conduit 15 and the injection line conduit 21 are interconnected by a Y coupling 65 to a common conduit 9 which is also constructed of flexible plastic material and which is insertable preferably through the throat and into the stomach of a patient. Although the details of the coupling 65 are not shown, the branch of the coupling which is connected to injection conduit line 21 is reduced while the branch of the coupling connecting the suction line 15 to the common conduit line 9 is of uniform diameter. Thus the reduction in the coupling branch connecting the injection conduit to the common conduit 9 serves to restrict the flow of liquid into common conduit 9 during the injection cycle. With this arrangement it will be appreciated that the volume of liquid flowing through the restricted branch will be less than the volume of fluid that would flow through an unrestricted branch. This coupling therefore constitutes a very simple flow control mechanism.

During operation of our novel stomach pump apparatus, the common flexible conduit is inserted preferably through the nasal passage or directly through the mouth and downwardly into the stomach of the patient. The duration or length of each cycle is then set to the preselected time desired. If, for example, it is desirable to have the suction cycle of minute duration, then the indexing member 39a is moved until the member 39a points to the numeral 10 on the right hand side of the dial 29. If it is also desirable to have the injection or irrigation cycle of 5 minute duration then the indexing member 39b is moved until the pointer 39b is aligned with the indicia designated 5 minutes. The particular amount of negative pressure may be selected by actuation of the vacuum control knob 61 until the desired negative pressure is indicated on the vacuum gauge 62. After the master switch has been turned on, either the water injection cycle or the suction cycle is rendered operative. If for example, the timer needle 31 is initially positioned on zero, and if the switch 39 is in the closed position with respect to the front timer motor 32, then the timer needle 31 will be driven in a counter clockwise direction thus indicating the suction cycle is in operation. The indicator light 47 will be on and the needle 31 moved towards the indexing member 39a. During this portion of the operation, the switch 49 will be in the closed position as indicated in FIG. 3 and the switch 57 will be in the open position. The evacuation pump 16 and solenoid valve unit 20 will be energized and fluid will be removed from the stomach of the patient through the common conduit and through the evacuation conduit into the collection receptacle 17. The evacuation operation will continue until expiration of the preset time or until the timer needle 31 strikes the post carried by the indexing member 39a at which time the front timer motor 32 is deenergized while the rear timer motor is simultaneously energized thus causing the timer needle 31 to move in a clockwise direction.

When the front panel motor 32 is deenergized, the micro switch 49 will be instantly opened so that the circuit to the solenoid valve unit 20, evacuation pump 16 and panel indicator light 47 will be open. The rear timer motor 33 will move the timer needle 31 in a clockwise direction until the needle reaches zero at which time the delay circuit to the micro switch 57 will be energized and the switch 57 will be moved to the closed position thus energizing the circuit to the solenoid valve unit 27, the injection pump mechanism 26 and the panel indicator light 55. Water will be forced under pressure by means of the action of the injection pump through the injection conduit 21 and into the common conduit 9 to thereby be discharged to the stomach of the patient. Any material which had become lodged within the common conduit 9 during the suction cycle will be forced back through the common conduit 9 until this conduit is clear. Thus if the purpose of the injection cycle is to maintain the line 9 in a clear condition, the injection cycle can be set for short duration. If, however, it is desirable to irrigate the stomach cavity for other reasons, the injection cycle may be set for longer duration. Since the solenoid valve unit 20 is normally closed, when the circuit to this component is deenergized, then the solenoid valve unit 20 will be normally closed during the injection cycle to prevent the flow of fluid from the injection line 21 into the collection receptacle 17.

The injection cycle will take place for the duration of the preselected time or until the timer needle 31 strikes the post carried by the indexing member 3% and when this occurs, the switch 39 will be moved to close the circuit to the front timer motor 32 while simultaneously deenergizing the circuit to the rear timer motor 33. Thus, the injection cycle will immediately cease and the timer needle will be moved by the front timer motor in a counter clockwise direction, the micro switch 49 remaining in an open condition until the timer needle 31 reaches Zero at which time the micro switch 49 will be moved to the closed position thus again energizing the evacuation pump 16, the valve solenoid unit 20, and the panel indicator light 47. The evacuation cycle is begun again and it will be noted that the solenoid valve unit 27 will be in the closed condition when the solenoid valve unit 20 is in the open position thus preventing the material removed from the stomach of a patient from flowing into the conduit 21. It will, therefore, be seen that the front and rear timer motors together with their respective delayed action circuits actually comprise circuit controllers for controlling the circuits to the respective pump mechanisms.

Thus, by preselecting the time for each cycle and by having an adjustable timer control mechanism for controlling the injection and suction cycles, it will be seen that the necessity of an attendant is completely obviated. If it is desired, an additional timing mechanism may be employed to positively render the injection cycle inoperative if the injection line remains operative after reaching the predetermined or selected time. This may be in the form of an additional timer element set to positively open the circuit to the injection components at the end of a predetermined time after the expiration of injection cycle.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that we have provided a novel and improved stomach pump apparatus which is of highly eflicient construction and operation. It will be noted that because of the compact construction of our stomach pump apparatus, it may be readily carried from one location to another. It will be seen that our novel stomach pump apparatus because of its automatic mode of operation eliminates the need of an attendant.

It will, therefore, be seen from the preceding paragraphs that we have provided a novel stomach pump apparatus which is not only of simple and inexpensive construction and operation, but one which functions in a more eflicient manner than any heretofore known comparable devices.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement, and proportions of the various parts without departing from the general scope of our invention.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for evacuating liquid from and supplying liquid into the stomach of a patient automatically and continuously in alternating cycle of operation, said apparatus comprising an evacuation conduit and an injection conduit, each of said conduits having oneend thereof connected in fiuid communication to a common flexible conduit which is insertible into the stomach of a patient and defining an unobstructed passage during all cycles of operation of the apparatus, an evacuation pump mechanism connected to the other end of said evacuation conduit, said evacuation pump mechanism being continuously operable to provide a continuous suction when the evacuation pump is energized, a collection receptacle connected to said evacuation conduit and being interposed between said evacuation pump mechanism and said one end of the evacuation conduit, said collection receptacle receiving therein liquid evacuated from the stomach of a patient, a liquid reservoir structure containing a volume of liquid to be injected into the stomach of the patient, said liquid reservoir being connected in fluid communicating relation to the other end of said injection conduit, an injection pump mechanism connected to said injection conduit and being interposed in fluid communication between said reservoir structure and said one end of said injection conduit, said injection pump being continuously operable to provide continuous pressure when energized, said injection pump mechanism being operable to force fluid through said injection conduit into said common conduit and into the stomach of a patient, a first valve unit connected in flow controlling relationship to said evacuation conduit and being interposed between said collection receptacle and said one end of the evacuation conduit, said first valve unit including a shiftable valve element shiftable to a conduit open position from a normally closed conduit closed position, a second valve unit connected in flow controlling relationship to said injection conduit and being interposed between said injection pump mechanism and said one end of the injection conduit, said valve unit including a shiftable valve element shiftable to a conduit open position from a normally closed conduit closed position, a first electrical circuit means connected to a source of electrical energy and being connected to said evacuation pump and said first valve means, a second electrical circuit means connected to a source of electrical energy and being connected to said injection pump mechanism and said second valve means, a control mechanism for automatically energizing each of said circuits and the pump mechanisms associated therewith in interrupted alternating cycles of operation of predetermined duration, said control mechanism including a first timer motor operatively connected with said first circuit means and being operable to control the period of energization thereof, a second timer motor operatively connected with said second circuit means and being operable to control the period of energization thereof, and an adjustable indexing means for controlling operation of said first and second timer motors, said indexing means including a pair of index members which are selectively shiftable to independently preset the periods of duration of operation of the timer motors, said indexing means including a member mounted for pivotal movement for engaging said index members such that said first circuit means is energized while said second circuit means is de-energized so as to cause continuous operation of said evacuation pump mechanism and at the same time causing said first valve means to open while said second valve is closed, and said second circuit means being subsequently energized while said first circuit means is de-energized so as to cause continuous energization and operation of said injection pump mechanism while said second valve means is open and said first valve means is closed, whereby said pump mechanisms are alternatively operated and continuously operated while energized for a selected period of time.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,042,042 Blanch July 3, 1962 

